Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

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Add this to the list of reasons The Mindy Project is one of the best shows on television. Ed Weeks, who plays suave British doctor Jeremy Reed, is Salvadoran! His mother hails from El Salvador, although Weeks was born and raised in Britain.

Who knew? Charisma Carpenter, who played self-absorbed teenager Cordelia Chase on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, is part-Spanish. “You need to get it out that I’m a proud Latina!” she told us in 2011.

James Roday, who played Shawn Spencer on Psych, was born James David Rodriguez. An executive at ABC suggested that he change his name back in the 90s, and the alias stuck. Despite the name change, the actor is Mexican-American.

The Evil Queen is.... Latina? Yes, Lana Parrilla, the star of Once Upon A Time, is Puerto Rican and proud.

Who knew? Alexis Bledel, who played Rory Gilmore on The Gilmore Girls, is Argentinian-American! The Latina grew up in a Spanish-speaking household in Houston, Texas. In fact, she didn't speak English at all until she started grade school.

How awesome is this? David Gallagher, who played Simon Camden on 7th Heaven, is Latino! His mother, Elena Lopez, is of Cuban descent.

We grew up watching Ashley Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and never knew she was Latina! Tatyana Ali is Afro-Panamanian on her mother's side and Indo-Trinidadian on her father's side.

Several Latinos starred on Lost, but there's one character we never expected to have Latin roots. Desmond Hume, the Scottish soldier, was played by Latino actor Henry Ian Cusick. Cusickis Scottish by birth, but his mother is Peruvian!

Everyone loves Scandal these days, but few people know one of the main characters is Latino. Yep, Guilerrmo Diaz, who plays Huck, is Cubano.

Okay, we know: Naya Rivera plays Santana, and she's brilliant. But, she's not the only Latino on the show! Blake Jenner and Harry Shum Jr., who play Ryder Lynn and Mike Chang on Glee, both have Latin roots. Jenner is Cuban-American, and Shum Jr. is Costa Rican-American!

Originally from El Paso, Texas, Cristina Mari Arreola earned her degree at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University before moving to New York, New York. In her downtime, you can usually find her scouring the city for the most authentic Mexican food (still looking...), scaring herself silly watching horror movies, or frantically reading a novel from her (extremely lengthy) reading list. . You can follow her on Twitter at @c_arreola.

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